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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Three firefighters within the Ottumwa Fire Department have purchased small high definition, water and heat resistant cameras. The cameras were designed by firefighters for firefighters and are placed on the helmet.

Ottumwa Firefighter Derek Fye received his camera last winter. He says that the film comes in use when reviewing calls that he responds to throughout the city.

“Sometimes things actually happen so fast when you are in a fire that you forget what actually happened, or you might not have seen everything clearly. So it is nice when you actually get back to the fire station, you get to review it, slow it down and you actually see things you did not see the first time,” Fye said.

Fye says that the cameras have even helped in investigations.

“One instance when we have used it, we were trying to decide if a fire was started on the inside or outside of a door and once we got back we could actually see the fire was started on the outside. So, it actually really helped out with investigating the fire. Hopefully all of us buy these. It will make the department better and a safer place to work,” Fye said.